User blog:Julia-B184/The Division - Part Four
August 13, 2582 AKO Finalizer, Orb Union Space Svea quietly walked through the hallways of Finalizer, making her way to the nearest hangar containing a shuttle. Over her shoulder was a small gray bag containing a few personal belongings, and on her belt were her dual Varja. The sight of a Dame of Ren so combat-ready while the ship was under practical lockdown happened to draw a great deal of attention, but Svea kept her pace, as running would alert them for sure. The Baroness made a sharp turn at the door to the hangar past a pair of TIE pilots, striding over to the nearest Upsilon-class shuttle. Four ADVENT troopers were guarding it, and two stepped forward. "Apologies, Baroness." One of them said. "Nobody's allowed to leave without proper authorization. Without another word said, Svea thrust an open hand out, the guards only minimally able to react before lightning erupted from her fingertips, engulfing the closest trooper. With her other hand, she took a telepathic hold of the other three and threw them aside, only then releasing the first trooper's corpse from her attack. Checking over her shoulder and seeing several other guards approaching, she hurried up the ramp into the shuttle as it closed. Setting her bag aside at the ship's entrance, Svea strode over to the pilot's cabin, engaging the shuttle's autopilot and setting a course. This was one of the bonuses of her influence - Upsilon-class shuttles were supposedly tracked by ADVENT, but once a Knight took control, they were free to go anywhere without being followed. Sitting down in the main seat, she watched the displays as the ship began to lift off. Outside in the hangar, things were chaotic. The guards had started to rush around, readying megablaster turrets as an officer accompanied by a shieldbearer stepped forward. "Baroness Svea Ren, exit the shuttle right now." The officer shouted through a megaphone built into their helmet. "Failure to comply will result in the destruction of the craft whether you live or not." As expected, the shuttle's takeoff sequence did not cease, instead lifting off from the hangar's floor and turning in place so that it could leave. Its wings began to unfold into a V. "Shut the hangar doors and open fire." The officer wasted no more time. The troopers in the immediate area began to comply with the orders, unloading into the shuttle. However, heavily armored and shielded as it was, they would not be able to destroy it unless the hangar doors kept it locked inside. The officer intently waited for the doors to shut, but they remained open, allowing the shuttle to exit and spread its wings entirely. "Why aren't the doors closing?!" The officer demanded from their shieldbearer. "And why aren't the point defenses shooting the shuttle down right now?" The gunfire began to cease due to the shuttle being too far away, prompting the troopers to run out of the hangar and to the nearest lander in order to pursue. In the opposite direction, however, another Knight of Ren approached the officer with a lightsaber in their hand instead of on their belt. "Baron Otto Ren, what the hell is going on?" The officer received no answer as the Knight got closer. "Why won't the crew comply?" "You forget where you are, Lieutenant." Otto Ren replied. "The crew of this ship... or, at least, an adequate amount, are loyal to the Knights of Ren. And those of us who retain our sanity are leaving with what troopers will follow." The shieldbearer raised their rifle to execute Otto on the spot, but the Baron grabbed them with the Force and dragged them in front of the officer, igniting his lightsaber and running both of them through on the spot. He let the bodies fall and sheathed his Varja, walking to the middle of the hangar and waiting. Less than a minute later, one of the ship's Atmospheric Assault Landers approached from outside, having left another hangar. The Lander set down in front of Otto and the door opened, revealing about eighteen charcoal-armored troopers. One of them, wearing a black pauldron, stepped forward. "Baron, we've started to gather those loyal to the Knights and move them to the rendezvous point." The Captain reported. "With Baroness Svea having evacuated already, we've already provided exfiltration to 6 other loyal Knights and await around two thousand more troopers." "Good work, Captain." Otto began to walk up the ramp and into the transporter, where the other troopers stood at attention. "Now let's hurry before Danielsen's lapdogs regain control of the ship." August 14, 2582 "Give me a report of who we lost and who ran." Deviss sighed, sitting down at the conference table with Wilson, Branwen, Schnee, and Kylo Ren. "I need a head count for both sides." "12 Knights of Ren deserted." Winter Schnee reported, setting her tablet down on the table and rubbing her head. "As did exactly 2,329 of Finalizer's troopers. Three Upsilon-class shuttles and eighty-two Atmospheric Assault Landers are unaccounted for." "The only officers and enlisted missing were TIE pilots." Qrow added. "27 officers and 102 enlisted. Most of them must have been flying the Landers, but we're also missing 31 TIE fighters." "Christ." Deviss muttered. "How many did we lose?" "Not many." Winter answered. "Thousands of injuries, but only 55 deaths in all considering the scale of the ship and its crew. The officers and enlisted that allowed the Rogues to escape have been removed from the ship and transported to Orb Union prisons." "And the rest, including 16 Knights of Ren, remain here." Slade glanced at Kylo Ren. "Many of them tried to stop the escape attempts. A few were too far." "Can you track down where Svea Ren and her followers went?" Deviss asked Kylo. "Maybe." Kylo scratched his head. "Svea's always been the strongest in the Force out of us. She can easily mask herself, and the others aren't strong enough to track from this distance. But if I were to make a guess I think it's a safe bet that they went someplace on Mandalore." "The fleet is undergoing refits and the like." Winter noted. "There would be plenty of gaps in the patrols to slip through." Deviss sighed and looked at the full list of what they'd lost and who was still with them. In the grand scale of things it wasn't much, but two and a half thousand dangerous and well-armed troopers guided by a dozen Knights of Ren could wreak havoc upon Mandalore. He slid the tablet aside. "We're going to hunt them down and starve them out before they can hurt anybody." He announced. "Wilson, please get me on the line with General Ironwood." Category:Blog posts